


Deaf

by auburnimp



Series: Wise Monkeys [2]
Category: Weiß Kreuz
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-18
Updated: 2016-08-14
Packaged: 2018-03-23 13:55:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3770767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/auburnimp/pseuds/auburnimp
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Crawford works hard to get all his pieces in place</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Crawford followed his visions through New York. It was possible they were already too late to acquire the third monkey yet the visions kept showing him all three together.

He came to a halt and looked around the real world. He was in a poorer area even though he was on one of the avenues. It was snowing and Fujimiya Aya was bleeding out his life slumped against a mail box. *Berserker, I’ve found him but he needs healing and fast.*

Jei’s mental voice sounded in his head. *What are we dealing with?*

Crawford squatted down next to Fujimiya. *Knife wound to the gut. Weapon still in place.*

Jei sighed in his mind. *Beyond my capabilities I think, though I’ll do what I can.*

Crawford frowned. *Where are you?*

Jei chuckled. *I did what you asked. I kept two blocks behind you as you walked.*

Crawford almost sighed in relief. *Okay, bring the hire car to where we are. He’s in no condition to walk any further.*

A voice came from behind him. “You move him, you’ll kill him.”

Crawford rose to his feet and turned. When he saw who the speaker was he smirked. “So, my message was received.”

The speaker, a tall young man with long hair and tattooed cheeks nodded. “I thought you would have seen us coming.”

Crawford shook his head. “I saw us meet in London, not here. You are Free, I believe.”

Free nodded. “That is correct.” He indicated one of his companions. “This is Cullen. Luckily for Fujimiya Aya, he is a healer of some skill.”

Crawford looked the man called Cullen up and down. He was slight, average height and had black hair and storm gray eyes. He saw visions involving this man and smiled. He stepped out of the way just as Jei arrived with their hired car. *They are friends, Berserker.*

*Oh. You mean we still have some?*

Crawford ignored that as he watched the man called Cullen heal Fujimiya. Free was right, the man was a skilled healer, the wound closing up as Crawford watched. “He’s lost a lot of blood so he should sleep for a while. When we get him to the safe house I can set up a transfusion. As well you saw this Free and were able to find his blood type.”

The third member of the group, a blond around the same height as Fujimiya with icy blue eyes, chuckled. “I doubt if the blood bank will miss two pints of A positive.”

Jei climbed out of the hired car. “So where are we taking him?”

Free glanced at Cullen who nodded. “Everything is set up at our safe house. I’ll come with you to show you the way and make sure my patient doesn’t die on the road.”

“Chloe and I will meet you there,” Free agreed. “Where did you ask the others to meet you?”

Crawford smirked. “In London, of course.”

Free didn’t appear to have a sense of humor as he didn’t smile back. “That works, KR and Mihirogi will want to be involved in the final Rosenkreuz showdown.”

Chloe did appear to have a sense of humor as he laughed. “Free has personal issues with them. Well, so do I, but I’m willing to bet we’ll be told to join the queue.”

Crawford shrugged. “I don’t care who does what, as long as it works and we bring Rosenkreuz down for good.”

Chloe gave him a long, cool stare. “You’re not the autocrat we were told to expect.”

Crawford smirked again. “As to that, I am autocratic and arrogant and, Schuldig will tell you, a slave driver. I just don’t care who kills whom as long as the deaths are all on the other side.”

Jei and Cullen had got Fujimiya’s limp body into the hire car by this time and Crawford frowned. “It looks like there is no room for me, with Fujimiya spread out over the back seat like that.”

Free finally smiled. “Don’t worry Mr Crawford. We’re parked just round the corner so you won’t have to walk.”

Crawford nodded to the tall, tattooed man before watching the hire car drive away. *Play nice, Jei.*

Jei’s chuckle sounded across their private link. *Don’t worry, Brad. I do know the difference between friend and foe. And Cullen is a countryman from Sligo who hates God as much as I do.*

*I thought we’d already discussed who really fucked you and your family over.*

*Yes, I know, but God lifted not one finger to stop it.*

*I can’t argue with that. I’ll see you at this safe house of theirs.*

*Okay.*

He cut the mental link and turned to smirk at Free and Chloe. “Ready when you are, gentlemen.”

Free turned away without a word and started walking. Chloe chuckled. “Free’s not very talkative and we seem to have used up today’s quota of words.”

Crawford shrugged. He wasn’t here to make best buddies with these people, just to work towards a common goal. There was one thing he needed to know, however. “How did you get saddled with a name like Chloe?”

The blond laughed. “Because nobody in England could get their tongues around my real name.”

“Which is?”

“Edward Krotznik.”

Crawford laughed. “Why not Edward, that bit’s easy enough?”

Chloe became serious all at once. He even frowned at Crawford. “I don’t use that name. It has very bad connotations for me.”

Crawford knew why that might be. It was the same reason Schu used Schuldig and not his real name. This man, like Schu, had been educated at Rosenkreuz. “What’s your talent?”

Chloe smiled at him but the expression held no warmth. “I have a certain amount of control over plants and animals, especially owls. Luckily Rosenkreuz couldn’t see a use for it so, after much testing and other unpleasantness, I was allowed to finish my schooling in peace. Every day I woke up wondering if it would be my last, especially when it was time for me to graduate and I had no unit to join. 

“I was allowed to leave, unmolested apart from all those tests. I never knew their hidden agenda so the worst I could say of them was they ran a school for talents and had some unorthodox testing habits. I don’t know what was done to the other, stronger talents. None of them ever spoke to me about it, but I know it was cruel and vicious.”

Crawford nodded. “Yes, it was. Our talents were twisted and made painful to use, in my case. Jei, who you might know better as Farfarello, is an incredibly talented reader of auras and has some empathic skills. A mind healer if you will. He became the demon those in our profession have heard of because of the way he was ‘recruited’ to the school. It drove him mad. It’s only since we broke away from Essett that we’ve been able to put him on the right medication.”

Chloe nodded. “I’m guessing Rosenkreuz and their allies would want him mad and psychotic.”

Crawford decided he was beginning to like Chloe. “Exactly why he was given the codename Berserker. It was only when we put him on the right medication we discovered how intelligent he really is. Unfortunately that was after he blinded one of his eyes.”

Chloe stared off into the distance as they walked. “Hmm, ‘if thy eye offend thee, pluck it out’ am I right?”

Crawford nodded. “Plus his desire to be called Farfarello, one of Dante’s demons and you can see the intelligence even in his madness.”

Ahead of them Free came to a halt beside another hire car. Chloe spoke softly so only Crawford could hear. “I wondered why you became a couple. Now I understand. You would need someone who matched your own intelligence.”

Crawford smirked at Free and nodded in answer to Chloe’s observation. “Exactly right but there are none as deaf as those who will not hear.”


	2. Chapter 2

The Kryptonbrand safe house was in Brooklyn. It was a large, attractive brownstone indicative of the huge amount of wealth at Richard Krypton’s command. Right now Crawford was in one of the bedrooms, arguing with Fujimiya Ran known as Aya.

“I’m not going anywhere. I was sent to New York and that’s where I’m staying.”

Crawford held his temper with an effort of will. “If you stay here, Fujimiya, you’re going to die. You very nearly have already.”

The redhead sitting on the bed sighed. “You think that matters to me?”

At least the stubborn bastard was listening even if he did have a death wish. “What about your old teammates? Don’t they matter to you?”

A conflicted expression crossed the beautiful features. “Ken’s in prison and Yohji’s dead.”

Crawford smirked. “Now that’s where you’re wrong. Ken is out of prison and Yohji is alive.”

Fujimiya moved as if to attack him but was brought up short by the drip in his arm. He still needed fluids to make up for the loss of blood. “You’re lying to me! The building collapsed on Yohji.”

Crawford sighed. “I am not lying to you. One of Weiss is dead, but it isn’t Kudou Yohji. If you want to see him again, you’ll come to London with us.”

Fujimiya frowned. “Persia sent me here to deal with the mafia bigwigs.”

Crawford shook his head. “Listen to me carefully. Persia is dead, killed by Rosenkreuz. You were sent here to get rid of his political opponents, not mafia bosses. Ken has been freed and Yohji is as well as can be expected considering he had amnesia from the collapse.”

He didn’t add what had been done to Kudou’s mind by Rosenkreuz. He didn’t think Fujimiya needed to know that until they reached London.

As if the place name had conjured it, a vision struck him. It was brief but told him what he needed to know. He smirked at Fujimiya. “You will come to London with us. I’ve seen it.”

Fujimiya stared at him, obviously processing all the information. “Takatori Mamoru is dead?”

Crawford almost cheered but knew that would be a mistake when dealing with the cold, hard man before him. “Yes.”

“Strange. I always thought I’d be the one to die, while he went on to become everything he said he hated.”

Crawford shook his head. “He never hated any of it. He was raised to it. First the perfect assassin, then the perfect politician. He was trained from childhood to be those things. And we both know, politicians lie so Weiss was never his real family.”

Fujimiya closed his extraordinary eyes and sighed. “I knew. As soon as I found out he was a Takatori, I knew.”

Crawford leaned forward on his chair. This was the side of Fujimiya that interested him the most. “How did you know? Was it just a hunch based on your hatred for his family or was it something deeper?”

Fujimiya opened his eyes and stared at him. “I heard his confusion turn into fear then loathing. I heard his resolve to kill Takatori Hirofumi and I thought he wanted to prove to me he wasn’t one of them. Then I heard his reason. His brother’s death would leave him as the only surviving son, the heir. It was the only reason he helped me kill his father.”

Crawford nodded. Fujimiya was an untrained telepath with natural shields. No doubt those shields had been erected when he was a young child in order to protect his mind. “Knowing all this, why did you continue to work with him?”

Fujimiya snorted. “What else could I do? I tried to leave but Schrient interfered and took my sister. The other members of Weiss were the only people who could help me. It turned out they all had reasons for returning. Neu had almost killed Kudou, Hidaka had been tracked and attacked by Shoen. I was a fool. When ‘Omi’ turned up out of the blue, I took it at face value, my mind too full of fear for my sister.”

Crawford sat back and pieced the rest together for himself. He owed Fujimiya an explanation for Schwartz’ actions at that time. “We were still under the Elders heel then. They wanted your sister for their filthy ceremony and we had to supply her. That’s why Schuldig went out to find Sakura. I knew she couldn’t shoot you, knew Kudou’s wire would remove the gun. Plus I’d seen her take your sister’s place.”

The lilac eyes narrowed turning towards gray with the depth of Fujimiya’s fury. “So why then did you fight to keep my sister after the elders were dead?”

Crawford smirked at him. “You always did underestimate me. We had that little fight so we could manipulate you into the areas of the building where you were most likely to survive.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

“If you ever get to know me, you’ll find I kill, steal, cheat, and anything else that might be required of me, but I never lie.”

Fujimiya settled again. He appeared to think things through then lifted his head to gaze at Crawford. “Ever since Schwartz crossed our paths, you’ve had numerous opportunities to kill us but you left us alive. Why is that?”

Crawford smiled. Fujimiya was beginning to see through the smokescreens. “We had to act as your enemies without actually killing any of you. I had several visions about you, of course, and in all those visions I saw us working together to rid the world of Rosenkreuz. I sent Nagi to the little Takatori only because I couldn’t see the outcome at the time. It wasn’t pleasant for him but it kept him out of Rosenkreuz’ clutches.

“You’ve seen about a tenth of Nagi’s power. He truly is godlike and he’s gotten even stronger since he’s grown up. Can you imagine his power in the hands of Rosenkreuz?”

Fujimiya actually shuddered. “Terrifying.”

Crawford nodded. “Exactly. Nagi is like a son to me and I look after my own.”

Fujimiya gave a humorless chuckle. “Is that how you see me? As one of your own?”

Crawford smirked and shook his head at the naivety of Fujimiya’s question. Time to tell the man some truths. “I see you as a tool, Fujimiya. You are one of a group called the Wise Monkeys, a group Rosenkreuz has been searching for but, due to my hard work, has never found.

“You are Kikazaru, hear no evil, as you are the group’s telepath. After we bring down Rosenkreuz you are free to go your own way, stay with the other Wise Monkeys or even join up with Schwartz or Kryptonbrand in London. All I ask is you help us to face a common enemy first.”

Fujimiya said nothing but he did nod. This reaction surprised Crawford. “You’re not arguing about being a telepath.”

Fujimiya actually smiled at him. “I’ve known ever since I can remember. I built shields to keep the cacophony down to manageable levels. It’s why Schuldig has never been able to attack me, unlike his toying with Takatori Mamoru.”

Crawford thought about Fujimiya’s words. A lot of things, which had worried him at the time, now made sense. When he and Jei had laid their trap and attacked him, he had stayed alive by reading their intent. His ability to be in the right place at the right time. It might be he was even stronger than Schuldig. “Why do you think he only ever played with Takatori?”

Fujimiya frowned but his eyes went distant as if he was thinking the question over. “He was an easy target and you never liked the Takatori family.”

Crawford smirked. “Good, that’s part of the reason for it but there’s something else. Both Kudou and Hidaka are talents, what they would call freaks. Takatori had no talent at all. A mundane.”

He waited for the explosion of denial but it didn’t come. “I often wondered about Kudou. He was always the most compassionate one of us. Compassionate to the point of self destruction. Hidaka is more surprising.”

Crawford nodded. “At present, Hidaka’s talent only manifests in extreme situations when his adrenaline is high. You may have noticed his ability to be in the right place at the right time during fights, for example.”

Fujimiya nodded slowly. “At first, I put that down to his talents as a soccer player.”

Crawford raised a brow. So Fujimiya had noticed. “It was useful in that career also.”

Fujimiya sat back on his bed, obviously tired. “I guess it would have been. Was it his talent that slowly drove Hidaka mad?”

Crawford stood up and shook his head. “I’ll leave you to rest. The sooner we can get to London and start training all together the better. Rosenkreuz won’t wait forever before trying to acquire us once again.” He smiled. “Hidaka’s psychosis has diminished considerably and was never due to his talent. It was due to the blood Kritiker bathed him in rather than clearing his name. And, at least you weren’t deaf to my explanations.”


	3. Chapter 3

The flight to London was uneventful, the meeting with Richard Krypton was not. For one thing it took place in an airport hotel rather than anywhere owned by the businessman and for another the stocky Englishman gazed at Crawford, his suspicion easy to read in the narrowing of his eyes and the frequent sighs. “What makes your people more important than mine?”

Crawford sighed in his turn. “Nothing. But you must realize there is safety in numbers and Rosenkreuz has numbers in abundance. Your people will not survive alone, and neither will mine.”

Krypton nodded and relaxed. “And the three who were once Kritiker assasins are already being hunted.”

Crawford pushed his glasses up his nose. “Yes.”

Krypton gave him a wary look. “Why are Rosenkreuz so interested in them? A lot depends on your answer.”

Crawford smiled his best business smile. “I agree you need all the facts before you can make a decision. They are the Three Wise Monkeys, so called because they see not, hear not and speak not. Rosenkreuz believe if they ever do see, hear and speak, it means the end of the organization. It is in their best interests to kill the three before they develop their powers, or so they think.”

Kryton frowned. “Surely it would be best for Rosenkreuz to develop those powers and use them for their own ends.”

Crawford shook his head emphatically. “These three would never agree to work for Rosenkreuz. They’ve spent most of their adult life fighting the Esset branch and the elders who ran it.”

Krypton listened carefully then nodded. “They tried to turn both Free and Chloe to their own ends simply because they both have some power. Luckily they’ve never found out about Cullen.”

Crawford nodded and folded his long length into a chair. “Chloe told me about his experience with them but I knew nothing about Free.”

Krypton finally relaxed enough to sit down. “He was a member of my first team, Side A. We had no idea the lab we were trying to take out was a Rosenkreuz facility. It cost two of the team their lives as they had no talents. Free was kept as he is a minor pre-cog, although he needs Tarot cards as a trigger for his talent. The current team, Side B, rescued him.”

Crawford frowned as he listened. “Did all this happen here, in London?”

Krypton shook his head. “No, we went to Germany, only because young people were disappearing from here. It wasn’t until later we found out those young people were talents.”

Crawford relaxed slightly. His visions were still on track and the final showdown would take place in London. Now all he had to do was persuade Hidaka and Kudou their talents were real. They would need a base, however. He turned his attention back to Krypton. “Where would be a good place for me to buy a house large enough for my team and the Wise Monkeys?”

Krypton appeared to have been thinking as he gave a slight start. “How long do we have before Rosenkruez attack?”

Crawford shrugged. “A week, perhaps two.” The enormity of the task didn’t faze him. Hidaka and Kudoh should be ready by then.

Krypton nodded. “I think I may have been wrong about you, Mr Crawford. I always liaised with Kritiker and their leader was very wary of you.”

Crawford took a deep breath. “Then I have some bad news for you. Takatori Mamoru died at the hands of Rosenkreuz agents last week.”

Krypton sighed. “I did wonder as I heard nothing.”

Crawford frowned at that. “Didn’t any others in the organization think to let you know?”

Krypton shook his head. “I wasn’t known to anyone apart from Mr Takatori. Which begs the question of how you knew about me.”

Crawford smirked. “That’s simple, Mr Krypton. You showed up in my visions, along with your team. Was it Takatori who told you about Fujimiya?”

Krypton nodded. “It was. He suggested I recruit Fujimiya as he was a skilled assassin but of no further use to Kritiker.”

Crawford’s fists clenched as he fought to control his anger. Takatori Mamoru had not only hurt and used Nagi, he had disposed of his old team like so much garbage. Hidaka to rot in jail, Kudoh to live a ‘normal’ life under the watchful eye of a Kritiker agent and Fujimiya to be palmed off onto another team. “So that’s why your team was in New York?”

Krypton smiled and nodded. “One thing Mr Takatori and I never agreed on was the use of talents. I believe he was afraid of them. Somehow he knew Fujimiya had some sort of talent which is why he suggested him to me. At the same time Free saw something in one of his readings and persuaded me to let Cullen, at least, go to New York and rescue Fujimiya. I saw it as an opportunity for my team to decide if they could work with Fujimiya. However, if what you say is true, Fujimiya is already part of another team.”

Crawford shook his head. “Once Rosenkreuz is dealt with, all of us are free to choose what we do with our lives. Fujimiya might yet decide to join you, or he might not. I’ve seen nothing beyond the downfall of Rosenkreuz, so far.”

Krypton rose to his feet. “I am willing to accept all you’ve told me, Mr Crawford. It seems to me it would be a waste for you to buy a house for two weeks unless you intended to settle in London. I have a large house not far away in Kent that you, your team and the Wise Monkeys are welcome to stay in for the duration.”

Crawford stood up, smiling. “That would be very helpful, thank you. It would also be an excellent opportunity for all three teams to get to know each other.”

Krypton nodded and held out his hand. Crawford shook it, beginning to see more in the apparently mundane Englishman than he had hitherto suspected.


End file.
